I was listening to Radio 4 today and there was an article on cheap food, which mentioned, inter alia, that the government has a policy of keeping food cheap, to the detriment of farmers in particular and others in general. This is something my mother had been wont to bring up now and again since my childhood and for some time I wondered why. However, my wondering ceased when I heard on Radio 4 a few months ago that 100 years ago, on average, 20% of the expenditure of the poor went on rent and 50% on food. Now it's the other way around. A similar point is made in this article.
So, basically, farmers are kept poor and subsidised, we eat rubbish food and animals are reared in inhumane conditions so that landlords can grow rich, but, of course, it's never put like that.
Debate Magazine
